Today, all 44 individual state lotteries offer both Mega Millions and Powerball as a result of a 2009 agreement between the Mega Millions consortium and MUSL to cross-license their joint games to one another’s members, although the two organizations continue to administer Mega Millions and Powerball separately. D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands also offer both games. Only the Puerto Rico Lottery offers only Powerball and not Mega Millions.

Never choose all odd or all even numbers. Such combinations (either all ‘odd’ numbers, or all ‘even’ numbers) make up only 3% of prizes won. Most winning Mega Millions tickets are notable for having three ‘odd’ and two ‘even’ numbers. Alternatively, you could choose three ‘even’ numbers and two ‘odd’ numbers, although your chances to win won’t be quite as good. The mega-ball number can be either an ‘even’ or an ‘odd’ number, and is not related in any way to your main (white) ball choices.
MUSL officials initially suspected fraud or a reporting error. However, all 110 winners had played numbers from fortune cookies made by Wonton Food Inc. of Long Island City, New York. The factory had printed the numbers "22, 28, 32, 33, 39, 40" on thousands of fortunes. The "40" in the fortune did not match the Powerball number, 42. None of the employees of Wonton Food played those numbers; at the time, the closest game member was Connecticut.[40] Since the ticket holders had won as result of a coincidence rather than foul play, the payouts were made.[41]
In March 2009, it was reported that New Jersey, already a Mega Millions member, sought permission to join Powerball. Shortly after, discussions were revealed about allowing each US lottery to offer both games. On Oct 13, the Mega Millions consortium and MUSL reached an agreement in principle to cross-sell Mega Millions and Powerball.[9] In Nov, MUSL signed an agreement to start streaming Powerball drawings online.[10][11]
If you’re not using an official state lottery website, the retailer may not be licensed and therefore could have no connection to the state lottery programs. Last year, during the record-breaking $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot, Holyfield says Michigan’s lottery office fielded several calls from consumers who purchased tickets online, only to have the vendor shut down without notice.
The winner, who has not yet claimed the prize, has 365 days from the draw date to turn in the ticket at one of nine California Lottery District Office locations. The lucky person has two options for payment: A payment plan for about $543 million (before federal taxes) paid out over 29 years or a lump cash sum of $320.5 million (before federal taxes).
The advertised estimated jackpot represents the total payments that would be paid to jackpot winner(s) should they accept the annuity option. This estimate is based on the funds accumulated in the jackpot pool rolled over from prior drawings, expected sales for the next drawing, and market interest rates for the securities that would be used to fund the annuity.[2] The estimated jackpot usually is 32.5% of the (non-Power Play) revenue of each base ($1) play, submitted by game members to accumulate into a prize pool to fund the jackpot. If the jackpot is not won in a particular drawing, the prize pool carries over to the next drawing, accumulating until there is a jackpot winner. This prize pool is the cash that is paid to a jackpot winner if they choose cash. If the winner chooses the annuity, current market rates are used to calculate the graduated payment schedule and the initial installment is paid. The remaining funds in the prize pool are invested to generate the income required to fund the remaining installments. If there are multiple jackpot winners for a drawing, the jackpot prize pool is divided equally for all such plays.
Mega Millions is played in 44 states — but not Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada and Utah — the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The most recent Mega Millions grand prize, a $142 million jackpot, was won May 4 in the Dayton, Ohio, suburb of Moraine; the winner claimed the prize anonymously through a trust, netting a $60.5 million lump sum after taxes.
In spite of the huge popularity of this lottery draw game it is still an unknown to many that you can buy Powerball tickets online, whether you are in the US or not. To be clear, this doesn’t even mean that you have to be a citizen of the US either. No citizenship & not based in the US? You can still play powerball online and buy lottery tickets online for a number of different lottery draw games.